Developers and landowners have an opportunity to provide feedback in two upcoming public hearings, scheduled for May 12 and May 22, 2025, that will shape the future of the City of Tampa.

Background

State law requires local governments to periodically update their comprehensive plans, which are their land use “constitutions,” as well as their land development codes, which implement those plans. The City of Tampa is updating its comprehensive plan and overhauling its land development code.

The City’s comprehensive plan has been in the update process since early 2022 (Live Grow Thrive 2045). The update will be complete in 2025, with the adoption of the most important piece of the comprehensive plan – the future land use section. This section provides a framework for the community’s future development patterns and specifies where various land uses should be located.

These efforts have prompted updates to the land development code (Tampa Forward: Building Tomorrow Together). To assist with these revisions, the City of Tampa has assembled an LDC Advisory Team. The Advisory Team calls upon the expertise of select land development professionals within the Tampa Bay area, and includes Stearns Weaver Miller shareholder, Jake Cremer. There will be further opportunities for public engagement regarding the land development code in late 2025 and in 2026.

Important Upcoming Hearings

In the near term, the future land use section draft is scheduled to be heard by the Planning Commission on Monday, May 12, 2025, and by the Tampa City Council on Thursday, May 22, 2025. These meetings are critical, as they establish the framework with which all future development decisions in the City must comply. 

The latest future land use section draft includes some positive concepts for landowners and developers including moderate increases in intensity and density in some places and a revised bonus structure. The draft, however, also raises significant property rights concerns and will artificially restrain the City’s ability to meet the current housing crises. These concerns include:

• Eliminating landowners’ ability to request increased development potential in many of the City’s most in-demand zip codes around downtown and in South Tampa
• Significantly limiting future redevelopment in already developed coastal areas such as Rocky Point and areas just outside of downtown Tampa
• Removing the ability to choose between two measurements of a project’s scale (floor area ratio (FAR) or density) when developers are providing only housing within a mixed-use FLU designation
• Failing to clearly state the criteria to apply for a comprehensive plan amendment

Landowners, developers, and pro-housing advocates who are concerned about their property rights should consider providing comments in writing and appearing at these meetings, either virtually or in person. Further information can be found on the project page.

Our Land Development and Zoning Team is closely monitoring these updates and can assist clients in analyzing the potential implications of these changes. Please contact us for more information.